Patrick Hume (editor)
Encyclopedia
Patrick Hume was a Scottish schoolmaster in London, author of the first commentary on the Paradise Lost
of John Milton
.
He is said to have been a member of the family of Hume of Polwarth, Berwickshire
. In 1695 he edited for Jacob Tonson
the sixth edition of Milton's Paradise Lost with elaborate notes. This is said to have been the first to attempt exhaustive annotations on the works of an English poet. On the title-page he calls himself P. H. φιλοποιητῆς. Thomas Newton
, in his preface to the edition of Paradise Lost published in 1749, says: ‘Patrick Hume, as he was the first, so is the most copious annotator. He laid the foundation, but he laid it among infinite heaps of rubbish.’ Thomas Warton
, however, called Hume's work ‘a large and very learned commentary’. John Callander, who edited the first book of Paradise Lost in 1750, plagiarised Hume's notes.
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
of John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
.
He is said to have been a member of the family of Hume of Polwarth, Berwickshire
Polwarth, Scottish Borders
Polwarth is a village and parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is located at , between Greenlaw and Duns, in the former county of Berwickshire....
. In 1695 he edited for Jacob Tonson
Jacob Tonson
Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the elder was an 18th-century English bookseller and publisher....
the sixth edition of Milton's Paradise Lost with elaborate notes. This is said to have been the first to attempt exhaustive annotations on the works of an English poet. On the title-page he calls himself P. H. φιλοποιητῆς. Thomas Newton
Thomas Newton
Thomas Newton was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782....
, in his preface to the edition of Paradise Lost published in 1749, says: ‘Patrick Hume, as he was the first, so is the most copious annotator. He laid the foundation, but he laid it among infinite heaps of rubbish.’ Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
, however, called Hume's work ‘a large and very learned commentary’. John Callander, who edited the first book of Paradise Lost in 1750, plagiarised Hume's notes.